The season they started school was when the autumn cicadas were restless.
The weather was clear and crisp, the sunlight brilliant.
Evergreen camphor trees lined the school paths, spreading out shade. The leaves of the old ginkgo tree in the corner of the campus were gradually turning golden.
The senior year of Lingzhou No. 1 High had seventeen classes. Each class had two P.E. lessons per week. When scheduling P.E., four classes always had it simultaneously.
The students gathered on the basketball court first for roll call. The P.E. committee members from each class led warm-up exercises. Afterwards, they followed the respective teachers to the venues based on their chosen sports, practiced for a small part of the lesson, and usually had free activity for the latter part.
This semester, the options were basketball, volleyball, soccer, and badminton. Xin Hexue couldn’t do strenuous running and jumping, so he and his deskmate signed up for badminton.
His deskmate was named Yu Zao, a boy with severe myopia and wore glasses. He was gentle and introverted, and didn’t like being active much either. Their activity levels were similar, and they could cooperate to slack off in doubles practice.
The shuttlecock went back and forth in the air, slow and leisurely over several rounds. The opponent lost concentration for a moment, didn’t catch it, and the shuttlecock fell to the ground.
Yu Zao jogged a few steps to pick up the shuttlecock. After returning, he asked Xin Hexue across the net, “The last two periods this afternoon are the grade-level meeting. I heard the teachers talking about it when I went to the office to hand in homework. It’s mainly about subject stream analysis.”
Standing still and adjusting his glasses, Yu Zao served both the question and the shuttlecock. “Xin Hexue, your grades are so good in all subjects. Are you choosing Arts or Sciences?”
Those who could get into Lingzhou City No. 1 High couldn’t have poor grades. Based on their middle school entrance exam scores, each one was at least a one in a hundred top student, smart, and the “other people’s child” in parents’ mouths.
But even among smart people, there are hierarchies. Among these one in a hundred top students, there were still eight hundred in the senior year.
Among them, Xin Hexue was undoubtedly the one closest to being an academic god.
Fearing gods is normal.
Yu Zao just wanted to know whether Xin Hexue was choosing Arts or Sciences, so he could at least avoid it. As long as they weren’t in the same class, his mother wouldn’t keep asking him what score his deskmate, the top scorer in the entrance exam, got.
Yu Zao felt a lot of pressure too.
“I’ll probably choose Sciences.”
Xin Hexue gave a small jump. The racket made a “smack” sound upon contact with the shuttlecock.
Facing the highly transparent glass inside the venue, his sports uniform outlined his slender figure. His two thin, snow-white calves were taut, the curves smooth. Due to the activity, the skin and flesh around his knees were suffused with a faint pink.
The shuttlecock landed lightly and swiftly with a smash in the opponent’s court.
Yu Zao went to pick up the shuttlecock again.
Having a moment, Xin Hexue played with the racket a few times.
The strands of hair on his forehead had grown long, so he wore a headband to prevent his bangs from blocking his vision while moving, making him look refreshing and clean.
Only occasionally, a few unruly black hairs stuck up slightly at the edge of the headband, giving him an indescribable softness that made one want to tease him.
“Xin Hexue.”
A familiar voice called his name.
Xin Hexue turned around and just happened to meet Miao Ling’s gaze. She was walking over with a female classmate.
This P.E. period was for classes one, two, three, and four together. Miao Ling was in class three, and Xin Hexue and the others were in class one, so running into each other was very normal.
Moreover they had all chosen badminton.
Miao Ling and the other girl with a low ponytail approached, and Miao Ling said to Xin Hexue, “I was watching you guys just now. You play really well. Can we practice together?”
“Mixed doubles?” Xin Hexue asked.
After getting a nod from Miao Ling, he looked at Yu Zao across the net. Yu Zao also nodded, indicating no problem.
“Okay.”
He agreed.
When Lu Yang arrived, they were just taking a mid-break. The lesson was basically coming to an end, and some students had already sneaked away to the convenience store to buy water while the teacher wasn’t looking.
Xin Hexue was tilting his head back drinking water. From Lu Yang’s angle, he could see the fair neck adorned with an Adam’s apple, moving slightly as he swallowed.
It looked strangely enticing, making him want to bite it.
Lu Yang stared without blinking.
Xin Hexue screwed the cap back on his water bottle and finally had time to talk to Lu Yang. “Class isn’t over yet. Why are you here?”
He remembered the basketball teacher was quite strict, not letting anyone leave before the end of class.
Lu Yang shrugged. “Old Hu was called away by the department head.”
Then, he glanced at the people present, noticed Miao Ling was there, and his internal suspicious alarm sounded again. Lu Yang turned to Xin Hexue and said, “I didn’t bring my water bottle. I’m so thirsty. Will you come with me to the convenience store to buy water? I’ll treat you to mung bean slush.”
Having just finished exercising, Xin Hexue was tired and his heartbeat hadn’t calmed down yet.
“I don’t feel like walking.” Xin Hexue shook his head and handed over his own little blue water bottle without any concerns, “How about you drink my water?”
“R-really?”
Lu Yang stammered.
“Is there such a thing as fake water in the world?” Xin Hexue asked in confusion, unscrewing the cap and staring at it for a moment before saying to Lu Yang, “It’s water from the dispenser in the teaching building.”
‘Right…’
They had shared water bottles before. Had he forgotten they even shared the same three colored cup?
Lu Yang forced himself to calm down. When he took the water bottle and drank from the rim, it felt as if his hidden thoughts were about to be laid bare under the bright daylight. The heart in his chest was racing wildly like birds exploding from a cage.
It was fine before he understood his feelings. But now, every move, and every time he got close to Xin Hexue, it was like having a ghost in his heart, and he was constantly afraid he couldn’t hide it.
Lu Yang then stared at the rim of the cup for a moment, slowly realizing…
Did that mean he had already indirectly kissed Xin Hexue countless times without even knowing it?!
Thinking that this blue water bottle was also a gift from him to Xin Hexue, Lu Yang held the water bottle carefully, looking at Xiao Blue as if it were their child.
“Lu Yang.” Xin Hexue called out hesitantly, glancing at Lu Yang’s crimson red ear tips. “Why have you been acting strange lately?”
“Have I?” Lu Yang scratched the back of his head, looking very guilty. “No, I’m fine. I ran three kilometers this morning, and had two extra servings of rice at lunch. I’m in great condition.”
He lifted his lean and strong wrist and looked at his digital watch. “Is it almost time for the grade-level meeting? Xin Hexue, let’s hurry and grab seats. Yu Wan, you come too.”
Yu Zao: “?”
………
They left early. They picked up their backpacks by the wall just as the dismissal bell rang, left the sports field and went towards the auditorium.
Lin Oufei had to carry the homework and went back to the teaching building before class ended, so he didn’t join them. Xin Hexue saved a seat for him.
The theme of the meeting was displayed on the banner at the front. Sure enough, as Yu Zao said, this meeting was for pre-stream selection advice and to commend students with good grades from the previous semester’s finals.
The meeting was specially scheduled for the last two periods. Once it ended, they could go straight home. Whether it’s a top high school or a regular one, for high school students, not having class is good news.
Moreover, they only had one physics class this afternoon, followed by P.E. and then the meeting. It was practically the happiest afternoon possible.
It was still break time. A dense, swarming crowd of students squeezed into the auditorium through the front and back doors, finding seats according to their classes.
Even though they were sitting right next to each other, Lu Yang still squeezed closer to Xin Hexue, earning a puzzled look from him.
“What’s wrong?”
Like a thief, Lu Yang leaned his head over, whispering, “Xin Hexue, let me ask you a question.”
“Go ahead.”
Xin Hexue didn’t even look up. There was a clipboard with test papers on his lap, and he was writing math homework.
Lu Yang’s eyes flickered several times, and he probed mysteriously: “What kind of person do you like?”
The gel pen’s ink stopped, just as he finished solving that problem.
Although he didn’t quite understand why Lu Yang was whispering, Xin Hexue also cooperated by lowering his voice.
When his voice lowered, it was somewhat soft and light. He covered his lips with his hand, slowly leaned close to Lu Yang’s ear and said: “I like you.”
His light pink lips moved, a cold fragrance wafted over, and a warm breath sprayed on Lu Yang’s ear.
Lu Yang shuddered with a jolt all over, and his eyes widened, shining brightly.
But then Xin Hexue sat back properly in his seat and started counting on his fingers one by one: “I also like Big Brother, Lin Oufei, Auntie, Uncle, Grandma, Grandpa, Big Yellow, Small Yellow…”
He was like counting off soldiers, rolling out different names. Lu Yang was just one name among many in the military register.
Lu Yang’s mood was like a bungee jump, going straight up and straight down.
Xin Hexue simply didn’t understand what he was asking and didn’t know who was suffering day and night for him.
The seat next to them was empty, and Miao Ling asked, “Xin Hexue, is someone sitting here? Can I sit here?”
This was the middle ground between classes one and three, and was usually occupied by students from either classes.
Xin Hexue said apologetically: “Sorry, I’m saving this seat for Lin Oufei.”
“It’s okay.” Miao Ling smiled and turned to the girl with her. “Let’s sit two rows back.”
The girl nodded, shyly and awkwardly pulling Miao Ling away.
Xin Hexue turned back to look and found Lu Yang with his head down playing with his(Xin Hexue’s) left hand, not speaking.
One moment he was restless, the next he was quiet, he couldn’t figure out Lu Yang’s thoughts.
‘Probably a rebellious phase.’
Xin Hexue guessed.
………
Xin Hexue was not biased towards any particular subject. Lin Oufei had a natural advantage in sciences, and Lu Yang’s arts subjects were a complete mess.
The three of them reached a consensus during the grade meeting to all choose Sciences.
During a homeroom period on Friday morning, the subject intention forms were handed out. The teacher asked the students to take them home, discuss with their parents, decide whether to choose Arts or Sciences, and next week they would be streamed into classes.
By then, the current classes would definitely be split up, and it was unknown which classmates would still be able to stay together.
Having been classmates for a year, the students were somewhat reluctant to part for a while.
Lu Yang didn’t know why, but he had a vague sense of foreboding today.
Sure enough, that intuition came true in the afternoon.
Miao Ling stood at the back door looking into class one, her gaze sweeping around before calling out to Lu Yang, who was in the back of the classroom.
Lu Yang was packing his backpack as he had to skip the last two periods and go for training. Hearing his name called, he stopped and came out.
The two stood in the corridor, facing each other with a hint of awkwardness.
Lu Yang spoke first, “What did you want to see me for?”
A pink envelope was handed to him.
Lu Yang subconsciously stepped back as if seeing a bomb.
“Is Xin Hexue not here today?” Miao Ling shoved the letter into his hand, wary of the ever-present department head. “Can you pass this to him?”
Lu Yang’s mind momentarily crashed, sending off air raid sirens.
Afraid that teachers or classmates might see, he subconsciously hid the love letter in his pants pocket first. “Xin Hexue went for his physical exam today. He asked for leave.”
Xin Hexue had to go to the city hospital every year to check his heart and observe the condition of his pulmonary valve.
The two were at a stalemate.
Lin Oufei’s cold voice rang out from the side. “Excuse me.”
Miao Ling and Lu Yang, who were standing at the back door, moved aside to let Lin Oufei, who had just gotten water, into the classroom.
After he entered, Lu Yang lowered his voice and asked, “Why don’t you give it to him yourself?”
He felt like he was holding a hot potato and was at a loss.
Miao Ling said casually, “Girls are shy. We’re more reserved, you know?”
Lu Yang didn’t understand. Lu Yang was depressed.
Why did he have to deliver a love letter for a rival in love?
He returned to his seat with his head down, packed his things, put both Xin Hexue’s subject intention form and the pink envelope into his desk drawer, and lost the mood to finish packing his bag.
He had to come back after training anyway, so Lu Yang went straight downstairs to the training ground.
………
His thoughts were in a jumbled mess all afternoon, but he managed to endure until school ended and it was time to go home.
Lu Yang didn’t go straight home but went to Xin Hexue’s house first with the bomb in his backpack.
He stood outside and knocked on the door.
Xin Zhiying, who had taken the day off to accompany Xin Hexue for his check-up, was already back and opened the door for Lu Yang. “It’s Xiao Lu. Xiao Xue is in his room.”
Lu Yang knew the place like the back of his hand. He walked through the living room and was about to open Xin Hexue’s bedroom door directly when he suddenly remembered accidentally seeing Xin Hexue changing his shirt before. His hand on the doorknob stopped abruptly.
However, Xin Hexue inside heard the noise and opened the door from the inside.
Lu Yang wasn’t in high spirits. He walked into the room, unzipped his backpack, and took out stacks of test papers and workbooks, along with a sticky note listing the homework. “This is the weekend homework. This is the subject intention form. It needs a parent’s signature. Hand it all in on Monday morning.”
Xin Hexue thanked him and invited, “Do you want to do homework together and have dinner before going back?”
After hesitating for a while, Lu Yang shook his head and said, “I have something else to give you.”
He made a difficult decision. He reached into his backpack, felt around…nothing. Checked the inner pocket…still nothing.
[Oh no.]
[I couldn’t have forgotten to bring it, could I?!]
While feeling panicked and nervous, he also inexplicably felt as if a weight had been lifted.
Apologizing silently in his heart, Lu Yang pulled out a chocolate bar and said happily, “For you.”
Xin Hexue stared at him suspiciously.
‘Forgot to bring what?’
